An Alchemist's Path to Eternity

After the span of a cup of tea, Luo Chen came to a halt outside a tall building.

The familiar layout left him with no hesitation; he went straight inside.

Moments later, Luo Tianhong arrived, and just like before, he entered without the slightest pause.

Only after the two figures had vanished did the weaker wandering spirits in the area begin to slowly gather again.

Had someone looked up, they might have seen the crooked sign hanging outside the building.

Spirit Herb Pavilion

If there were any places in the ghost city considered relatively safe, then the properties of the five major sects were undoubtedly the safest.

After the great battle broke out in the inner city, only cultivators in those few locations managed to survive by sheer luck.

In other words, these few areas had suffered far less damage than the rest of the city. Among them, the Spirit Herb Pavilion was the place Luo Chen knew best.

The moment Ghost General Luo Tianhong stepped into the Spirit Herb Pavilion, a layer of white mist suddenly spread out. It shrouded the entire building in a ghostly fog. The scene looked almost identical to the formation atop Xiao Huan Mountain.

And once the mist expanded, confusion flickered in Luo Tianhong’s eyes. He could no longer sense what he had been tracking in the dark!

The object of his obsession, gone. This sudden shift drove him into a frenzy, and he began wildly destroying everything inside the Spirit Herb Pavilion.

On the second floor, Luo Chen watched the scene unfold and let out a quiet breath.

The formation from Xiao Huan Mountain might not excel in offense or defense, but in terms of disorienting the enemy and obstructing detection, it matched the effect of a first-tier supreme-grade formation.

After all, it was a formation used by the Duan family to guard their restricted area. It wouldn’t make sense if it didn’t possess at least a few mystical effects.

Seeing that Luo Tianhong was now trapped, Luo Chen moved without delay.

The formation, named White Mist Concealment, had only been laid down hastily and wouldn’t hold Luo Tianhong for long. In the time he had, he needed to give it everything he had.

The Soul-Refining Banner unfurled with a loud snap. Following the instructions from the Soul-Refining True Art, Luo Chen began to cast a series of spirit incantations.

Though clumsy at first, he quickly grew more adept with each incantation.

Very soon!

The black banner of the Soul-Refining Banner fluttered without wind.

A dark curtain slowly unfurled. Standing within, Luo Chen felt waves of yin energy swirling as endless wails and howls echoed all around.

Dozens of ghost soldiers, each possessing strength equivalent to the late stage of Qi-Refining, circled and soared around him, their bodies wreathed in a bloodthirsty aura. Every time they swept near Luo Chen, they instinctively lunged as if to attack. But as the wielder of the Soul-Refining Banner, how could he possibly allow his spirits to defy him?

Before they could reach him, chains of black yin energy would shoot out and pull them back. After several failed attempts, the Ghost Soldiers no longer dared to approach him.

With this, the full power of the Soul-Refining Banner has been awakened. Next step, lure Luo Tianhong inside.

Judging by the time, it seemed just about right.

Almost the moment Luo Chen had the thought, the thick mist cloaking the Spirit Herb Pavilion gradually dispersed.

Luo Tianhong paused in confusion, his hazy eyes slowly regaining clarity. In the next moment, he lunged straight for the second floor.

Hrrgh...

A heavy breath sounded as he stepped onto the second floor.

Dozens of Ghost Soldiers charged at him madly.

Luo Tianhong let out a low snarl, instinctively attempting to assert dominance over the lesser ghostly beings with the bearing of a superior. But these spirits had long since been refined by the Soul-Refining Banner, they answered to Luo Chen alone.

Luo Tianhong froze in disbelief. He hadn’t expected these low-tier spirits to completely ignore his will.

Hrrgh...

Lowering his head, he saw a ghost soldier sinking its teeth into his thigh, a limb forged entirely from condensed yin energy.

Rrgh... rrgh...

With a casual slap of his palm, he effortlessly dispersed the ghost soldier into a wisp of mist. But moments later, the same specter began to reassemble in the distance.

Within the Soul-Refining Banner, as long as the wielder’s spirit power continued to flow, these ghostly beings were eternal, undying and indestructible.

In an instant, dozens of ghostly figures charged one after another, fearless of death, launching wave after wave at Luo Tianhong.

Low snarls and furious growls echoed from within.

Beneath the dark veil, Luo Chen’s eyes glinted.

”These dozen or so Ghost Soldiers... still aren’t enough!”

With a flick of his right hand, A chain shot out and pierced through Luo Tianhong’s shoulder blade.

”Not enough!

”Still not enough!”

Chains of yin energy continued to shoot forth one after another. Soon, nine massive chains of yin energy had wrapped tightly around Luo Tianhong from all directions.

By now, his every step had become a struggle. Even as he was torn at by dozens of ghostly enemies and bound by nine massive chains, his steps remained firm and unwavering.

Guided by an unseen force, he walked step by step until he reached the front of a small room.

Ka-ka...The timeworn wooden door creaked open with a grating sound. And in that instant, a pair of glowing green eyes locked onto him.

”Give... it...”

”Apologies,” Luo Chen said with a faint smile, showing no hint of remorse. ”But I’ve already refined this sword orb, it’s no longer yours to claim.”

Not only that, but the Soul-Intimidation surged forth at full force. This was no longer the crude, eye-based version he had relied on during his Qi-Refining days.

This time, he unleashed his spirit consciousness in full, casting the technique directly through sheer soul force. His immense divine soul foundation erupted without reserve, fierce, overwhelming, and utterly unrestrained.

Had Luo Tianhong been at his peak, Luo Chen might never have dared to launch such a direct spirit assault. After all, he had no way of knowing whether disciples from powerful sects possessed secret arts to reinforce their divine souls. If the Soul-Intimidation were to backfire, the consequences could be devastating.

But the Luo Tianhong standing before him now was no longer a man, he was a ghost.

Not only had he taken a direct blast from the Solar Flare, leaving him still struggling to recover, but he was also trapped within the domain of the Soul-Refining Banner, where his strength was being stripped away layer by layer.

This was the weakest moment of his entire existence!

The moment the fully empowered Soul-Intimidation descended upon Luo Tianhong, Luo Chen felt no strain, no resistance, none of the usual struggle that accompanied soul-based combat.

What he felt instead was a profound and chilling certainty that life and death lay entirely within his grasp.

At the entrance, Luo Tianhong began to kneel. Slowly, almost reluctantly, his ghostly form bowed lower and lower until he lay prostrate on the ground.

Seeing this, Luo Chen didn’t hesitate for even a breath. His fingers shifted rapidly, weaving a new incantation seal into existence.

”Seal!” With a low shout, the nine chains instantly tightened. They dragged Luo Tianhong into the unfurled black curtain, into the heart of the Soul-Refining Banner.

Luo Chen rose slowly, straightening to his full height. With a casual wave of his hand, the banner flew back into his grasp. His gaze swept over its surface, where a face had begun to emerge from the dark, rippling fabric. Twisted in pain, marked by obsession, the visage flickered in and out of view.

With this, he had effectively subdued the Ghost General, whose strength rivaled that of a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

And not just that, even the quality of the Soul-Refining Banner itself had been elevated, rising from top-grade to supreme-grade.

But to wield it as naturally as an extension of his own will, that would take more than a single battle.

Even the Ghost Soldiers had shown signs of rebellion, trying to turn on him the moment control slipped, let alone the Ghost General.

It would take time. A long, deliberate effort to completely crush the lingering will of such a powerful spirit.

But Luo Chen wasn’t concerned about that. What he truly sought was something else entirely.

He extended his spirit consciousness into the Soul-Refining Banner, moving through and around the Ghost General’s body.

Before long, he found exactly what he was looking for.

”Come forth!” With a low command, a pitch-black, pure chess piece slowly floated out into the air.

As he gazed at the object, Luo Chen’s breathing grew quick and unsteady.

”An enchanted treasure... the Forsaken Chess Piece!”

Clutching the black piece in one hand, Luo Chen swallowed hard. ”It is what I thought!”

Years ago, deep within the Ancient Plains, the Golden Core Ruins had opened to the world.

The first to arrive was Pang Renxiong, who infiltrated the ruins and claimed his share of its treasures. Not long after, numerous Foundation Establishment cultivators joined forces to enter the site, scrambling for what little fortune remained.

In the end, it was Mi Shuhua who walked away with the final prize, a storage ring that had once belonged to the Supreme Elder of the Valley of Ghosts and Divinities.

But contrary to expectations, the ring didn’t contain a vast hoard of treasures from the Valley of Ghosts and Divinities. Instead, it held only a few enchanted treasures.

Among them, the ones Luo Chen knew were the Demon Locking Pagoda and the Forsaken Chess Piece.

The former had once been greatly valued by Pang Renxiong himself. He had even considered returning it to the Jade Cauldron Sword Sect.

The latter, however, had been the personal defensive enchanted artifact of the supreme elder of Valley of Ghosts and Divinities. A true mid-grade enchanted treasure, refined, powerful, and capable of remarkable feats of protection.

But Pang Renxiong, already a Golden Core sword cultivator, had long since devoted his heart and soul to the way of the sword. He dismissed these auxiliary treasures as beneath his notice.

And so, in recognition of his achievements, he gifted the Forsaken Chess Piece to Luo Tianhong.

Years later, during the fierce battle within Dahe Market’s inner city, Luo Tianhong fell in combat. The Forsaken Chess Piece, this defensive enchanted treasure, has vanished along with him, its whereabouts unknown.

Luo Chen hadn’t expected it, but one of the black pieces from that very treasure had ended up embedded within the ghostly form of Luo Tianhong.

“I didn’t expect this,” Luo Chen thought, eyes narrowing. “Even half of this artifact still holds the power of a low-grade enchanted treasure!

”If it could be combined with the white piece, wouldn’t that restore its full might as a mid-grade defensive enchanted treasure?”

He paused. A flicker of desire flashed through him.

No... I mustn’t be so greedy.

”Having even one piece... is already a blessing beyond measure!”

Even if it was only the black half, the Forsaken Chess Piece was still a genuine low-grade defensive treasure.

For Luo Chen, this was nothing short of a monumental gain greater than the fruits of three years of bitter cultivation.

For the longest time, Luo Chen’s cultivation arsenal had remained skewed, overwhelmingly geared toward offense, with glaring deficiencies in defense.

Offensively, he was a force to be reckoned with. Even back when he was still in the Qi-Refining Realm, he had already possessed the power to threaten Foundation Establishment Initiates.

But when it came to defense, he had always fallen short.

All he had was a top-grade enchanted defensive robe and the tassel defenses that came with the Four Symbols Cauldron.

This wasn’t entirely his fault. It stemmed from the current cultivation world’s obsession with combat prowess. Because of this combative mindset, defensive enchanted artifacts were always in high demand.

Among enchanted artifacts of the same tier, defensive types were consistently more expensive, often far beyond the reach of most rogue cultivators.

And in battle, the first step to victory was typically breaking through your enemy’s defenses, shattering their protective artifacts to leave them vulnerable. Which meant that such items, once broken, rarely became spoils of war.

Luo Chen and the Luo Tian Society had endured countless battles, wars of blood and fire. And yet, the number of defensive enchanted artifacts they’d managed to salvage was pitifully small.

Enchanted artifacts that reached top-grade? Even fewer.

Even the top-grade ones didn’t measure up to the Four Symbols Cauldron he was accustomed to using.

Thus, for a long time, he had no means of compensating for this glaring weakness.

Even though he suspected ill intent from Wang Haichao, Luo Chen still devoted effort to cultivating the second-tier defensive spell Glazed Skyveil he had gifted.

All of this, every spell, every refinement, was to patch up one glaring weakness in Luo Chen’s arsenal: his lack of proper defense.

But spells, as any cultivator knew, were easy to learn and notoriously difficult to master. To wield one fluidly in the heat of combat would require not just talent, but an unknown amount of time and refinement.

By comparison, enchanted artifacts provided quicker and more immediate utility. And defensive enchanted treasures, those were the coveted gems of every Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Back then, wasn’t it the legendary Zeguo Gui Diagram that had swayed Nangong Jin into siding with Luo Chen against Duan Qiankun?

Now, Luo Chen finally had a defensive enchanted treasure of his own.

In that moment, his most glaring shortcoming had been transformed into a newfound strength.

“Still,” he muttered, narrowing his eyes at the black chess piece pulsing faintly in his hand,

“This enchanted artifact has been steeped in ghostly yin for years. I’ll need to properly nurture and refine it before it can respond to my will.”

With great care, Luo Chen put it away.

Once he returned, he would take the time to ritually refine it. After all, true enchanted treasures, unlike common enchanted artifacts, couldn’t be wielded casually. They required resonance, bonding, and respect.

Luo Chen glanced around, his gaze sweeping the ghost-infested ruins of Dahe ghost city.

He had no intention of lingering. This place had become far too dangerous.

Even if the Ghost King Pang Renxiong had been temporarily suppressed by the lingering technique of Luoyun Sect’s Linghu, it was still a rootless, temporary measure.

With the terrain in his favor, Pang Renxiong would eventually break free.

When that time came, not just Fallen Phoenix Mountain or the ghost city, but the entirety of Dahe Market and its surrounding thousand li would fall under the shadow of his ghostly might.

“If that day comes,” Luo Chen thought grimly, “Dahe Market won’t be a land without a master, but a cursed zone instead.

“So... where should I go from here?”

The thought lingered softly in his mind, like mist curling through the ruins.

He concealed his energy and descended the second floor.

Suddenly, his footsteps came to a halt.

By the door of the Spirit Herb Pavilion, a faint and translucent figure crouched by the rotting wooden window, staring at him timidly.